A debt-ridden farmer ended his life on Sunday by hanging himself from a mango tree in Lalpura village, nearly 42 km from Jabalpur, as he was unable to repay loan taken to buy a tractor.

A debt-ridden farmer ended his life on Sunday by hanging himself from a mango tree in Lalpura village, nearly 42 km from Jabalpur, as he was unable to repay loan taken to buy a tractor.

Manoj Rajak, 42, had taken the loan from a private finance company three years ago and was unable to pay installments regularly due to financial hardships, police said.

Recovery agents were putting pressure on him to clear the dues, they added.

Sihora police station assistant sub-inspector JK Tiwari said Rajak’s family had lodged a complaint. The victim’s elder son first saw Manoj hanging from a mango tree, he said.

This is the second suicide by a debt-ridden farmer in last one month. On May 31, a farmer, his wife and their minor daughter flunged themselves in front of a goods train in Damoh district. The three-year old daughter was seriously injured in the alleged suicide attempt.

More than 18,000 farmer suicides have been reported in last 15 years, with an average of over three farmers taking the extreme step on a given day, as per the state crime records bureau. There have been 18,687 suicides by farmers in between 2001 and 2015 in the state.